uphold - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From Middle English upholden, equivalent to up- +‎ hold. Compare Dutch ophouden (“to stop, cease, hold up”), German aufhalten (“to stop, halt, detain”). Compare also Middle Low German upholt, Old Norse upphald (“uphold, support”).

uphold (third-person singular simple present upholds, present participle upholding, simple past upheld, past participle upheld or (archaic) upholden)

  1. To hold up; to lift on high; to elevate.
    • 1899, John Dryden, Geoffrey Chaucer, Percival Chubb, Dryden's Palamon and Arcite‎[1], page 5:
      The mournful train/ Echoed her grief, [...]/ With groans, and hands upheld, to move his mind, /Besought his pity to their helpless kind
  2. To keep erect; to support; to sustain; to keep from falling
    • 1872, James De Mille, The Cryptogram‎[2], HTML edition, The Gutenberg Project, published 2009:
      Uttering such broken ejaculations Mrs. Hart burst into a passion of tears, and only Lord Chetwynde's strong arms prevented her from falling. / He upheld her.
    • Wednesday June 02, 2021, Has the Northern Ireland Protocol undermined the United Kingdom?
      Similarly, both the Government and the EU argued at the time the deal was agreed that they were upholding the Good Friday Agreement by implementing the Protocol.
  3. To support by approval or encouragement; to vindicate; to confirm (something which has been questioned)
    • 1748, David Hume, Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral., London: Oxford University Press, published 1973, § 18:
      but there was still a connexion upheld among the different ideas, which succeeded each other.
    • 1986 February 15, GCN staff, “Our Movement Is No Place for Jew-hating”, in Gay Community News, volume 13, number 31, page 4:
      We must continually separate out and clearly articulate that support for the Jews as a people has nothing to do with upholding the policies of the Israeli state.

to hold up

to keep erect

to support by approval or encouragement

  1. ^ Oxford-Paravia Concise - Dizionario Inglese-Italiano e Italiano-Inglese. Edited by Maria Cristina Bareggi. Torino: Paravia, 2003 (in collaboration with Oxford University Press). ISBN 8839551107. Online version here

uphold

  1. (Late Middle English) alternative form of upholden